Consumer protection

Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored some of the most debated issues in EU digital policy: dark patterns, addictive design, digital advertising, and subscription cancellations. These discussions often lead to calls for new legislation. But one message has been clear throughout this series: Europe doesn’t need more rules; it needs to make the existing ones work.

The European Commission is considering new rules in the name of “digital fairness” to ensure cancelling a digital subscription is as easy as signing up.

The principle is sound, and one that European tech companies fully support. But the idea that this requires new legislation is misplaced. The issue is not a lack of regulation, but a lack of legal clarity and enforcement.

As digital services become central to everyday life, ensuring consumer well-being online is at the front and centre of European tech companies’ interest. Protecting users goes hand in hand with preserving user choice, encouraging innovation, and supporting the diversity of digital services that make the internet thrive. The key for Europe lies not in more rules, but in better enforcement: making sure existing protections deliver in practice, support responsible innovation, and uphold an internet that remains open, fair, and user-friendly.

The European Union (EU) has taken significant steps to tackle dark patterns – frequently understood as manipulative design tricks that nudge users into choices they didn’t intend, often for the benefit of service providers. At least 13 pieces of legislation already cover these practices.

The European Union (EU) is considering new rules in the name of “digital fairness”. But what’s needed isn’t more legislation, it’s better enforcement of the rules we already have.

While creating a fair and transparent digital environment is a goal we all share, piling on new rules is not the solution. The real challenge lies in enforcing and clarifying the protections that already exist.